Apprentice of the Heart
by schmackie
Summary: After an unexpected donation during Maria's Celebrity Apprentice task, she decides to make a phone call. What will it lead to?


Maria doing her Celebrity Apprentice task for the 24 Hour Fitness Center. She was going over the workout with Brett Michaels when Sharon Osbourne had called her.

"Hey Maria." Sharon's delicious accent rang through the phone.

"Hey Sharon." Maria said with a smile as Brett was practicing the 'Tour Bus Thrust'… again.

"You'll never believe who I just got a donation from." Sharon prompted the young Diva.

"Who?"  
"The WWE as a whole gave $10,000. Vince McMahon also gave ten thousand and John Cena gave ten thousand, also."

"Wow. I'm really shocked. That's great!" Maria said with a smile. She wasn't too surprised to see the WWE's help or really Vince McMahon's for that matter. While he was a hard-ass, he could be very nice. Maria was, however, surprised to hear of John Cena's donation.

They were friends and while he could've done it just to be nice, which he did since he was a truly sweet guy, but Maria felt truly, personally touched by the offer. She decided to give him a call when she was done with Sharon.

"It is! How are things going there?"

"Great. We have the T-Shirts and the Backstage passes all set up and we're just going over the routine now."

"Great. I'll be there in about 15 minutes and I just want to make a few more calls to some more donors and we'll be all set to go!"

"Awesome! See you soon." Sharon hung up the phone. Maria immediately went into her contacts after the call ended and found the Champ's name. He picked up on the third ring.

"Maria?"  
"Hey, John."

"Hey, I'm kinda surprised you called."

"Oh, why?"

"Nothing really. I was… actually just thinking about you."

"Oh," Maria stopped and quirked her brow, "Well, I just wanted to thank you for the donation you made. I really appreciate it. It was amazing."

"It's no problem. I support Sharon's charity. You know my uncle had colon cancer. And, I mean, you know how I'm a fitness buff. I'm all for it."

Maria laughed at him before responding, "I really appreciate it. It was so great of you. It's incredible."

"It's really not a big deal, Ria." _Ria_, Maria thought, _I like that._

"Well, it is to me so thank you."

"You're welcome." Maria giggled again before John continued, "So what are you doing on that show?"

"We did some pretty fun stuff! We got to make an ad for the new Harry Potter Wizarding World and we got to run a restaurant. It's really a great experience. I just can't wait to get back in the ring. It feels like ages."  
"I know how you feel. When I broke my neck, God, it was like torture."

Maria giggled again. She felt herself enjoying talking to him more and more.

"Maria, I need your help out here. What do you think of a Lead Singer grinding of the hips thing." Brett called from the dance floor.

"Uhm, did I just hear 'grinding'?"

Maria laughed at John's confusion and Brett's hip gyration. "Yeah, we're creating a workout and I think Brett wants to work that in somehow."

"Oh," John conceded and his deep laugh rumbled through the phone. Maria felt a chill roll down her spine, even though she tried to suppress it.

"John, I'm sorry to cut this short but I have to go. I think Brett needs some help in this… whatever he's doing."

"Alright. I better get going too."

"It was great talking to you."

"You too." John smiled.

"Talk to you later?"

"Alright." John's response was met with a dial tone. It had been awhile since he had talked with Maria. Heck, when she was on RAW they used to hang out all the time. He found himself reminiscing on the fun times they had in the four years they were on the same brand and their interviews and segments the first two. He decided to give her a call again to see if she wanted to hang out.

The phone rang…

And rang…

And rang…

_Hey, it's Maria. Sorry I can't talk now. Leave me a message and I'll call you back! Thanks!_

"Hey, Ria. It's John. Again. Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out sometime. Ya know, once you're all done with Celebrity Apprentice and back on the road. Only if you want to though. Just give me a call back. You have my number… obviously, so yeah. Just call me back. Okay. Bye." John pressed the end button. _Way to not make it awkward_, John thought.

Maria had just finished going over the workout like ten times with Brett. He kept insisting on getting it perfect. Maria didn't take him to be the perfectionist. Although, she did feel rather uncomfortable that he kept staring at her butt the whole time.

Maria picked up her phone to see where Sharon was when she saw she had two missed calls. She didn't bother to see who it was and just dialed into her voicemail.

_You have two new voice messages. First Voice Message:_

'_Hey Maria, It's Sharon. I stopped by the graphic designer and decided to get a banner made up. I'll be back in about half an hour. See you then.'_

_To delete this voice message, press 7, to save this—_

Maria deleted the message and got on to the second.

_Next voice message._

'_Hey, Ria. It's John. Again. Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out sometime. Ya know, once you're all done with Celebrity Apprentice and back on the road. Only if you want to though. Just give me a call back. You have my number… obviously, so yeah. Just call me back. Okay. Bye.'_

Maria giggled at the message he left her. She could tell he felt a little uncomfortable about it. It had been awhile since she hung out with her friend and decided to respond.

She pressed redial and he picked up on the second ring.

"Hey, Maria."

"Hey John. I got your message."

"Alright. Whatdaya say? You wanna hang out?"  
"Sure. This whole thing is over in about two weeks, depending on if I get fired or not. So is that okay with you?"

"Yeah. How about the Friday that you get back?"

"Sounds great." Maria smiled.

"Where will you be?"

"My home, probably. In Miami."

"Alright. I think I remember where that is." Maria giggled again. Brett swung his finger in a circle, telling her to wrap it up.

"Well, I have to go, but if you forget, give me a ring."

"Alright. See ya then." John smiled before closing his phone. He was actually pretty excited now. But that was two weeks away. He wasn't sure if he could wait that long.

**A/N: So I know I probably shouldn't be starting any new stories right now but I promise this one is only a little fic-let. I swear. Maybe. But I will be working on my stories. Right now I have finals but with summer approaching, I should get lots of updates out. Hopefully. Cross your fingers! Any who… REVIEW!**


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